KATHMANDU, Jan 5: The Municipal Association of Nepal (MuAN) and the National Association of Rural Municipalities in Nepal (NARMIN) have advised lawmakers to consider the spirit of the constitution while introducing the Education Bill, 2080 BS. The bill is presently under-consideration in the Education, Health and Information Technology Committee of the House of Representatives.

Both associations of the local governments were summoned to a meeting of the committee on Thursday to discuss the bill.

MuAN Chair Bhim Prasad Dhungana and NARMIN Chair Laxmi Devi Pandey expressed their concerns in writing over the draft of the bill. They argued that the draft bill is capable of curtailing the constitutional rights of local levels.

They said that the bill was drafted by overlooking the spirit of federalism and separation of powers of the three-tier government.  They also expressed concerns over the agreements reached between the government and school teachers and employees without informing them.

They called for naming the document 'Federal Education Bill'. 

"If it is taken ahead by interfering with the legislative rights of local governments, the MuAN and NARMIN will approach the constitutional bench and take to the street if necessary," they said.

In the meeting, School Employees Council of Nepal's President Gangaram Tiwari, Secondary Teachers Union President Gyan Prasad Bhattarai, Secondary School Teachers Union President Tika Prasad Neupane, among others, argued that the problem in the secondary level education system became complicated as the Grade 11 and 12 were run without managing the teachers’ quotas and teaching licenses for the teachers.

Committee president Bhanubhakta Joshi informed the meeting that discussions will be held with the temporary and relief quota teachers' organizations in the next meeting scheduled for Friday.

Lawmakers demanded that the discussions should be objective and based on facts, and the government should present statistics on the situation.

The Committee held consultations with office-bearers of Nepal Teachers Federation on Wednesday.

The government had signed an agreement with the agitating teachers and school employees on September 27 and October 8, 2023 respectively. The teachers and school employees waged a protest after the School Education Bill was tabled in the parliament, objecting over some provisions of the bill. The bill landed in the committee on October 8, 2023 for clause-wise discussions after theoretical deliberations in parliament.

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